The No. 4 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys (36-19) fell to the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns (40-17) 4-0 in the opener of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship opener at Globe Life Field.
The Longhorns were led by starting pitcher Pete Hansen who hurled 12 strikeouts for the third time this season. The win marks UT’s first opening game win at the Big 12 Championship since 2017.
Trey Faltine scored on an error in the sixth inning to put Texas on the board first. He was followed across home plate an inning later when Austin Todd hit his sixth home run of the season. Faltine singled up the middle in the seventh inning to bring across Skyler Messinger and extend the lead to 3-0. One last long ball in the ninth from Silas Ardoin sealed the lead and eventual win for the Longhorns.
Hansen (W, 10-1) started the game and had a no-hitter going until John Bay singled in the fifth. Hansen finished with 7.2 innings while giving up no runs and three hits while striking out 12. The 12 strikeouts were just one away from his career-best of 13 strikeouts. The redshirt sophomore threw a season-high 122 pitches. Tristan Stevens came in for relief in the eighth inning and threw one pitch with a runner on first to close the book on Hansen’s line. Stevens finished the game giving up no hits while retiring five batters to earn his second save of the year.
OSU’s Victor Mederos (L, 3-4) gave the Cowboys six innings of work on the mound. The sophomore gave up seven hits, one walk, three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts before he was relieved by Hueston Morrill. Morrill pitched three innings giving up two hits, one earned run and had three strikeouts.
Texas will face the winner of No. 1 TCU and No. 8 Baylor on Thursday, May 26 at 4 p.m. CT on ESPNU while Oklahoma State awaits the losing team at 9 a.m. CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Remaining Schedule
Thursday, May 26
Game 5 – No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Baylor – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 6 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 7 – No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 TCU – 4 p.m. – ESPNU
Game 8 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – 7:30 p.m. – ESPNU
Friday, May 27
Game 9 – Game 7 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner – 3:15 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 8 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner – 7 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Saturday, May 28
Game 11 – Game 9 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 12 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 13 – Game 11 Loser vs. Game 11 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 14 – Game 12 Loser vs. Game 12 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Sunday, May 29
Game 15 – Championship Game – 5 p.m. – ESPNU